Stars and Dragons
by KuraraOkumura
Summary: After the Grand Magic Games, Lucy's celestial magic seems to be acting up. The rip and link between the celestial world and this one has widened, and the mage is being eaten alive by unleashed powers that suddenly aren't just her own anymore. Gajeel wants to help, and though he really doesn't have a clue how to do it well, at least he tries. Laxus x Gajeel x Lucy. HIATUS TILL JULY
1. Chapter 1: In The Shadows

_A/N: This chapter was betaed first by **CelestialCircumference**, and then re-betaed on the 1/12/2014 by my new Beta as from the posting of Chapter 3, **DarkVampireFae**. Thanks to them both!  
_

_This story is dedicated to authors **leoslady4ever**, **Corpsies** and **Wild Rhov**, who made me absolutely adore this three-stand pairing! REMINDER: THIS STORY WILL BE AN EVENTUAL **THREESOME** ROMANTIC PAIRING BETWEEN LAXUS, GAJEEL AND LUCY (which means the story will include both M/M and F/M). I don't usually like giving spoilers as to relationships in my fics, but I feel it's necessary here in case some people don't like Laxus and Gajeel together or threesomes at all. : P_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail nor any of its characters: **Hiro Mashima** does. However, I own this fic, the plot, dialogues and situations the characters find themselves in._

_**Fanart** is welcome. : 3_

_If you like my work, **please go like my page KuraraOkumura's Disciples on Facebook**; I update about my fics there and interact directly with my fans if you guyz have any questions. I also have a **tumblr, kuraraokumura**, where I post mostly Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan related stuff. :3 And please do check my profile for the poll I've left there. You can vote for what fic/fandom you'd prefer me to post from next. : P_

_~Tenshi_

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CHAPTER 1: The Darkness

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"Shit," Gajeel growled, struggling against the ice that held half his body prisoner against the wall.

Their mission had gone seriously out of control. Not a week ago, Makarov had set up six of the guild's strongest – Laxus, Erza, Gray, Natsu, Lucy and Gajeel – for a mission on a faraway island to neutralize and capture a dark mage who had apparently forced the initial inhabitants of the island out. From what they'd found, the mage was Water and Leech based, and had been here for some months now. The villagers had been driven out in the last couple of weeks by the water creatures invoked by him. Gajeel and the other Fairy Tail mages had come straight here, but the mage's strength was easily ten-fold what they'd first expected.

His element being fire, Natsu had long been 'extinguished' by the Water-based mage, and now lay on the floor of the giant cavern not far from where Gajeel had been trapped by a sudden gush of ice just minutes ago. Gray's energy and ice magic had been sucked right out of him by the dark mage, and he'd fallen to his knees with his eyes rolling back in his head not a minute into the fight. Erza had been blown out of the cave some time ago now, leaving a permanent hole in the roof of the place that let in just about enough light that Gajeel could see most everything that was going on. Laxus, and damn him because his lightning magic would have come in really handy against this water guy, had stayed outside to fight off some shady creatures that had been summoned by the mage. Now the only one of them left to fight the guy was blondie, her body glistening with sweat as she avoided the other mage's attacks while lashing out with her whip and summoning her spirits – but each and every one of the spirits' attacks just went right through the mage as though he were made of smoke. Or water. Loki's attacks seemed to have done some damage, but the girl was running out of energy fast, and the Lion's presence was constantly drawing on that energy. By Gajeel's estimation of the girl's panting and sweating, Loki was going to have to disappear soon, lest he end up sucking out her very life.

Right on cue, and with one last panicked glance at his master, Loki disappeared – without the usual flash of light and flurry. Normally, Gajeel knew that the Lion would have been able to open his own gate without taking up much of Lucy's own magic in the process, but he'd figured out some time ago that the two purple statuettes just outside the entrance of the cavern were probably magic blocks, draining all of their magics as surely as the mage himself had done to Gray. Which meant that the girl was now well and truly alone for this, and try as he might, Gajeel just knew that he'd never break through the ice around him without a little help. It was as thick as his own body was high, and though he liked to think himself invincible, Fairy Tail had long taught him to know his own limits – and his were right here. As he watched the quickly dwindling fight, his chest, legs and arms completely encased in ice, he figured that all of them were probably going to die here. He growled, crimson eyes once more taking in Gray, Natsu and Lucy. _They're too young, _he thought desperately. _Much too young._

And that's when it happened.

Right in front of him, herded back into a corner of the cavern, Lucy's demeanour had started to change. Until now she'd been frantic and obviously frightened, but anger had started to show on her face, the whip in her hand quivering as she refused to back down any more than she already had. Her eyes were trained on the dark mage's uncovered face, and though Gajeel was too far to hear them, it seemed obvious that he was talking to her – taunting her, judging by the look on her face. Gajeel suddenly felt sorry for the dark mage; he had to admit that that look scared even him a little. The guy didn't know what was coming for him; he'd been wrong in dismissing her as weak.

Except that what happened next was very far from what Gajeel had originally thought would happen.

Lucy, refusing to back down as the mage, his hands shimmering a dark, pulsing purple – the same purple as the statuettes outside – stepped towards her, had begun glowing. From the inside out, like a turned up glove with a torch shoved into it, she was _glowing_. It occurred to Gajeel then that this was the same kind of light that the Lion exuded when she summoned him and when they used his powers. But the fact that the light resembled her spirit's seemed to have no root and only a head; it made no sense when applied to the context. Lucy wasn't a spirit – she was human. So why was she glowing?

As he stared at her, she shouted something at the mage, loud enough that it echoed across the large cavern and he heard most of it; "Eat your shit and go to _hell!_" To say that he was shocked by what he heard would have been a monumental understatement. Those words were perhaps not much in his own judgment, but coming from her, they were far beyond the worst things he'd ever heard _her_ say. That man had really, really angered her. Whatever he'd been saying to her, she hadn't appreciated it. And Gajeel found himself grinning at her words, more than a little proud of her brutal rebuke, and just a tiny bit turned on by the feral look on her face.

And then she exploded, and the grin on his face was quick to fall off.

A startled yelp escaped him, and he swallowed down the rest of his exclamation, berating himself for his lapse in control even as his eyes took in her still-standing figure in the midst of the cloud of smoke that what looked and sounded much like an explosion had stirred up. The dark mage was down; he saw that too, the body crumpled on the floor, silhouetted against the daylight of the hole that had just been blasted in the wall right behind Lucy.

_Damn, _he thought to himself, a little overwhelmed. _What the fuck just happened?!_

Looking down at himself, he realized that the ice had startle to crackle with the fall of the man who'd created it, and with one last violent contortion of his body, the huge block of ice fell apart around him. He tugged his numbed arms and legs free, then half-ran half-limped up to where the girl still stood across from him, her back ram-rod straight and her whip slack in her grip. Her face was down, her hair covering part of it, and though he couldn't see her eyes, he wasn't sure if he wanted to know what was in them. The light he'd seen around her body was gone, and the Iron Dragon Slayer had a fairly good hunch that that light was what had caused the explosion; why she was left unscathed while all around her, in a diameter of a good twenty metres, everything else had been blasted to smithereens.

Gajeel stopped just inside the circle of destruction, hands stuffed into his pockets, and bumped a massive, steel-toed foot into the unmoving carcass of the purple mage. He couldn't see that guy's face either, but would've liked to see the look on his face at being beaten by someone he'd obviously been taunting and teasing and provoking not seconds before he'd died. Gajeel hummed a little, knowing that Erza wouldn't be too happy about that particular thing; part of the mission had been to return the mage alive so that he could be taken care of by the Council, but since he was most certainly dead now, part of the reward had just been ripped from right under their noses. He didn't mind too much; the prize for the Grand Magic Games had been enough that each separate member of the guild could expect to be able to live off of it for at least a year without needing to work. They'd taken this mission because the guy had been causing serious damage around here, and well, they were still mages, for Mavis' sake; if they sat around too long they usually got bored, and either way most of the mages at Fairy Tail were in the trade for the chance to do some good in this world, not just for the money. And that particular activity had no price.

Either way, and if he recalled correctly, the total sum for this mission had been pretty hefty, and even if it was cut in half because of their failure to bring the man back alive, they'd still be left with a substantial amount each. So for all these reasons and a few besides, he wasn't too worried about losing out on half of the reward. On the other hand, what was definitely starting to get to him was blondie's silence.

"Oi, Bunny Girl," he called, just as she started to sway on her feet. He swore, taking an uncertain step forward, and then she was falling, and even running he couldn't make it on time there to stop her from hitting the overblown rocks fully. Her head bounced sharply off them, and Gajeel winced for her as he slid to a stop and fell to his knees in front of her.

He leaned down towards her face, startled when he saw her eyes still open and searching for his own. Their gazes locked. Her lips moved. And even here, now, in the resounding silence echoing around them after that monster of an explosion, when her words would have been too low for any regular human to hear, he heard.

"Don't tell them I did this. Don't tell them it was me. Please."

And then she was gone. Her eyes slipped closed, her lips stopped moving, and she blacked out in a second.

Turning a little frantic despite himself, Gajeel leaned forward, placing an ear between her collarbone and breast. Her heartbeat was there; weak, very weak, but there. He breathed a sigh of relief, then slipped his arms under her, one under legs and the other against her back, standing with her as he quickly made his way across the expanse of blown up rocks. Throwing a kick into the Fire Dragon Slayer's stomach as he walked out, he was rewarded with the satisfying sound of a startled yelp followed by a coughing fit. He carried the girl outside the cavern and into the sunlight, growling a little when he saw Laxus making his way towards him at a trot on a little road surrounded by foliage.

"Where the fuck were you?" he hissed at the Lightning Dragon Slayer, stopping to gently lay the Celestial Mage down on the warm, dry ground.

Laxus sneered at him as he came to a stop. "Saving your sorry asses," he spat at him. "There were a bunch of water Nymphs coming up this way. Disappeared minutes ago. I don't see anyone else still in any fighting state, so I s'pose I've got you to thank?"

Gajeel opened his mouth to answer, then closed it as his gaze fell on the small, immobile blue and white figure of the Celestial Mage at his feet. He stood. He'd been about to say that 'no', Laxus didn't have him to thank, but Lucy – and then her words had struck him for the first time since he'd heard them. She'd asked him not to tell. She'd asked him to keep what he'd seen to himself. And though Gajeel couldn't see why she'd want to keep what had happened in that cave a secret, past the strange light he'd seen emanating from her – and he was by now wondering if he'd somehow hallucinated it –, he also couldn't see the downside of doing what she'd asked him to do. After all, the flame-brain and the popsicle had been the first two to be knocked out; then Erza had been blasted out. He and Lucy had been the last two. Nobody else had seen anything. He could just take credit for the mage's defeat, and though he'd have to face Erza's rage for the guy's death, he could easily wave it off as accidental, or as him getting a little overzealous. And then not only would he have fulfilled Bunny Girl's wish, but he might also get a little more respect from his teammates.

Gajeel grinned at that and corrected his previous train of speech. "Yeah," he said, answering the Lightning Dragon Slayer now standing beside him, facing the inside of the cave while Gajeel faced out from it. "Yeah, you've got me to thank all right."


	2. Chapter 2: Crying Shame: Part 1

_A/N: So first of all I wanna say that I'm so, SO happy with the response this story got. Nearly 70 followers, in a month and a half, for just ONE CHAPTER? I mean, have you any idea how amazing that is? I love you all for it! It's a new personal record tbh : D  
_

_Another thing: Please review? I mean, 70 followers (or close) is great, but only 6 reviews...? Not so great. :( Please please please review!  
_

_More notes at the end of the chapter. :P Hope you enjoy the second chapter as much as you did the first one!  
_

_And again, fanart is welcome. :33_

_Update of the 2/12/14: This chapter was Betaed by DarkVampireFae on the 2nd of December 2014.  
_

_~Tenshi_

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CHAPTER 2: Lantern on the River

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"But I don't want you to knock me out!"

"Natsu, be reasonable and think a minute. You're gonna be sick again as soon as we get on, and I'd rather not have to deal with you_ and _Gajeel for the entire that the train journey will last."

"Hey, don't talk 'bout me. I ain't gonna get sick."

Erza threw him a withering look from where she was leaning against the wall. Gajeel shrank back into the bench he was slouched back on, but didn't take back his words.

"What about Laxus, then?" Natsu asked, pouting, and Gajeel was pretty sure by now that everyone but the Fire Dragon Slayer himself knew that he was only buying time before the Titania ended up knocking him out anyway.

At the other end of the bench, Laxus rolled his eyes and pulled one of his blaring earphones away from his ear. "I'm not gonna get sick, flame brain." The blonde man jabbed a finger towards his earphones for emphasis. "Music distracts me from motion sickness."

Ironically enough, Natsu suddenly turned very green at the simple mention of motion sickness. Taking advantage of the new shade of his face and of the fact that he was momentarily distracted, Erza lunged, a flurry of red and silver as she landed a punch at the back of his head. The Dragon Slayer dropped like a stone, and right on cue, the train that would take them back home from their weeklong mission pulled in.

Grunting, Gajeel and Laxus both pulled themselves up from the bench. Gajeel grabbed half of their suitcases, Laxus the other, the for-once-silent Gray hauled an unconscious Natsu onto his shoulder, and Erza slipped an arm under Lucy's armpits as the blonde struggled to push herself up from the ground. The six of them shuffled onto the train, finding an empty compartment nearly immediately and filing into it. Luckily, this train was a long distance one, and the compartments were twice as large as the usual trains, able to accommodate about eight people each instead of four or six. They fit easily into the one, luggage stored safely above them. A passed-out Natsu sleeping against Gray, Gajeel in the middle, and Laxus against the window all sat on one side, and Erza on the other with Lucy's blonde head on her lap and the rest of her spread over the seats, asleep by the looks of it. It had been only yesterday that they'd completed their mission and collected their reward, and all of them, particularly the Celestial Mage, were still largely exhausted by their exploits. She'd spent the last twenty-four hours sleeping, and the rest of them, save the Requip mage, hadn't been too far behind in that regards.

Leaning back in his seat, Gajeel suddenly wished he'd taken the window seat before the Lightning Dragon Slayer had. Though he was never as bad as the flame-brain, who always ended up being sick before they'd even started moving, he still knew he'd be having a thoroughly unpleasant time for the next twenty-four hours on this train. He was honestly glad that this was a one-time mission; he didn't think he'd survive another return-trip to Sylva Island any time soon. Curse the old man for sending three Dragon Slayers out on a mission that mandated a twenty-four hour train trip down and back.

Gajeel closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

X

After all six of them had dropped their luggage at their respective homes, they walked back to the guild, Lucy still leaning on Erza while Gray and Natsu walked ahead and Laxus and Gajeel lingered back, both of them yawning heavily. Contrary to the Fire Dragon Slayer, who had, thanks to the red-haired mage, slept for the entire train ride, the other two Dragon Slayers had spent the last day alternatively half-asleep and awake getting sick. They'd narrowly avoided Erza knocking _them _out too – and even then only out of pride. Any other day, Laxus would have been stalking ahead, if not already at the guild, but having had very little sleep since the start of their mission, for once he hung at the back of their little group. The two men didn't say anything, content to just walk in silence and put aside all of their past grudges for the briefest of minutes.

Ahead of them, the pink-haired Dragon Slayer pushed the doors to the Guild Hall open, and was immediately greeted by the resounding voices of the present guild members enquiring after their mission. Following after him and the popsicle, Erza roughly grabbed the giddy boy by the back of the collar, dragging him away from the gossipers and his cat and towards the Guild Master's office, ignoring his loud protests. Gray followed the Requip mage grudgingly, his mood a little more toned-down than Natsu's due to having not yet completely recovered from getting his magic sucked out of him by the dark mage the previous day. Laxus and Gajeel weren't far behind, the first hailed by Bickslow, Elfman and Freed, while the latter gruffly reassured a short blue-haired woman as to his well being.

Laxus snickered as the other man grumpily shooed Levy away, and Gajeel shot him a glare. "Got somethin' to say, Sparky?"

"Nah," the blonde smirked, ignoring the glare being shot his way. "So, have you turned her upside down yet?"

"Shut your trap," Gajeel growled, because even though it was obvious that Laxus was only having a bit of playful banter, Levy was his friend, and he wasn't about to let the other man speak like that about her.

"Mavis, will you calm down, Nail-Head," Laxus drawled, rolling his eyes. "I was only asking – you know, from man to man."

Gajeel just growled something unintelligible in answer, and the two left it at that.

Up in Makarov's office, all six of them stood in front of the old man sitting atop his desk instead of on the chair behind it, not minutes after having come into the Guild Hall. "So?" the Master enquired, eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Master," Erza began, stepping forward with a respectful nod of her head, gently leaning Lucy for Gray to support instead of herself. "The mage on Sylva Island was a Water and Leech based mage. As reported, we can confirm that he had been creating and controlling the creatures of the island, which is what its villagers were forced out by. Gajeel took him out after the rest of us were incapacitated. Unfortunately, it turned out impossible to capture him alive. At that point, it was either him or us."

The old man nodded thoughtfully, appraising their battered and tired appearance one by one, lingering a little more on Lucy than on the rest of them. Silently, he raised his eyebrows at Erza, obviously confused at the Celestial Mage's state of exhaustion. Seeing his concern, the red-haired woman nodded back at him to indicate that she'd explain everything to him once they were alone. Satisfied with this, Makarov congratulated everyone else, and they were told to go home and rest.

"Gajeel," the old man called just as the Iron Dragon Slayer was about to walk out. The black-haired man turned with a scowl, and was met with the unflinching gaze of the Master of his Guild. "Stay back with Erza, please." Gajeel relented, crossing his arms over his chest resolutely and stepping out of the way to let everybody else walk out.

Once everyone but Makarov, the red-haired Requip mage and Gajeel were gone, the old man turned to Erza. "Now, Erza. Why was Lucy in such a state?"

Gajeel growled a little at being ignored, seething beside the door, but said nothing.

"As I said earlier, the mage was also Leech-based. Not only did he have the ability to use Gray's ice-magic against him, but he had also installed small purple statuettes outside the cave where he was holed up – statuettes which, after closer inspection, appeared to be what was making us weaker, by sucking out our magic and making us use more of it than would normally have been necessary. And although Natsu, with his fire magic, didn't last long against water, and Laxus was held out of range of the statuettes fighting some of the mage's creatures, I suspect that Dragon Slayers are unaffected by this type of magic. Gajeel's abilities were never hindered by the mage's Leeches in the way that mine, Lucy's and Gray's were.

"My theory is that Lucy felt it more than we did because her Celestial Magic, requires her to reach outside of herself to call on her spirits. She doesn't _create_ her magic the way Gray creates ice or the way I change equipment. Her spirits – Loki, Plue – come from outside of herself, and I think that's why the statuettes drained her more than they drained us. In addition, she stayed in that cave, conscious and fighting, for much longer than either myself or Gray. She and Gajeel were the last two fighting."

Erza didn't move once she was done talking, waiting patiently as the old man pondered on what she had just said. Eventually, Makarov seemed to reach a conclusion, and his gaze went up to meet Gajeel's, staring squarely at him from across the room. With a wave of his hand, Erza was dismissed, and she threw the Iron Dragon Slayer standing beside the door one last withering glance – which he royally returned – as she passed him to rejoin her friends in the Guild's main Hall. There was a moment of silence as Master and Dragon Slayer appraised each other, and then Makarov sighed and turned away from the other man, rubbing a tired hand across his face. Gajeel was momentarily taken aback by this unusual show of weakness, and his eyes widened fractionally before he schooled his features back into an irritated scowl.

"Watcha want, old man," he growled, not so much a question as an order.

"Gajeel, as much as I appreciate nurturing the idea that you may have tried your best to protect my children, I know what the truth is. Lucy killed that mage, didn't she?"

He started. What the…? How did the old fart know that?

"I told ya," he drawled, feigning irritation. "I killed him. What makes ya think Bunny Girl did?"

"Gajeel," Makarov repeated, a hint of warning in his voice this time. Gajeel scowled, but didn't say anything. Makarov sighed and faced him again as he said, "Ever since the Games, Lucy has been having difficulties controlling her magic. Two months ago, she came very near to blasting off half of the training area's grounds – would have if Mira had not been there to calm her down. Only the Celestial spell Urano Metria matched up to the potential destruction Lucy could have wrecked upon us that day.

"It appears that the gap between the Celestial World and this one has been widened considerably, and while this has made it easier for her and other Celestial Mages to summon their spirits, powerful mages like Lucy have also experienced a recrudescence of their Spirits' magic. It seems that it is no longer Spirits who have sole control of Celestial Magic, but also their owners. And with the number of Major Zodiac keys in Lucy's possession… Their energy is proving too much. She can't control all of it, and it is showing more and more with every passing day."

Makarov gave a heavy sigh, shaking his head before looking back up at Gajeel, who hadn't moved from his spot beside the door and was still staring at him fixedly. "I expect that it is Lucy who killed that mage – accidently, I'll agree. And I expect that she was surrounded by a blinding white light, which reminded you of her Spirits' magic, and that that magic caused a circular explosion which killed the mage and left her exhausted – possibly unconscious. Am I right?" Makarov looked at him, and Gajeel bared his teeth. "Gajeel, if that's what you're worried about, I'm not going to punish her for killing him. If anything, that man deserved to die. No, what I'm more worried about is the reason why you've decided to take credit for what she did. If you're planning on hurting her with the knowledge, then I-"

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Gajeel exploded, uncrossing his arms and letting one of his fists bang loudly against the wall he'd been leaning against. "I'm not gonna blackmail her, Gramps! Whoever the fuck you think I am, well that ain't me! I'm taking credit 'cause she asked me not to tell the others what she did – that's all there is to it! Are ya done now?!" And without waiting for an answer, Gajeel stormed out of the old man's office, ignoring the way his head throbbed, because he'd just broken the promise that the girl had unknowingly made him take. He'd just told someone the truth – he'd just revealed the fact that she had killed someone, perhaps for the first time. Because he'd figured out, deep in his heart, that that was the real reason that she hadn't wanted anyone to know that she had been the one to beat the dark mage. She hadn't wanted her friends to see her as a killer, and in himself, Gajeel was sure that it had taken something out of her to kill another human being like that – even accidentally, even though if she hadn't done what she had, they'd probably all be dead by now.

He knew well enough what it was like to take another life for the first time.

He knew how much it could change a person.


	3. Chapter 3: Easily

_A/N: Hey guyz… So yeah… Finally…an update… xD Don't look at me like that! Check my profile for the quick note which will explain my long absence, and if you like there's a poll there to vote for the kind of fic you'd prefer me to start next._

_On another note: __**I NEED A BETA FOR THIS!**__ A volunteer would be greatly appreciated.  
_

_Update a week later: Beta found. Thanks to DarkVampireFae for volunteering and betaing this. ^_^_

_Also: Like my page on facebook, and follow me on tumblr! Names are also on my profile. :3_

_Love you all for the continued reviews and encouragements  
_

_~Tenshi_

* * *

CHAPTER 3: Never Quite Alone

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"Hey, Iron-Head! Fight me!"

Natsu waved a fist at him from where he stood with Gray and Erza in the Guild Hall, challenging Gajeel as he did every time he saw him. The look Gajeel sent him had Natsu grumbling and turning away, muttering about how Gajeel wouldn't fight him because he knew he'd lose if they fought.

Instead of rising to the bait as Natsu had no doubt expected him to, Gajeel clenched his fists and strode past the group and out of the guild.

It was sunny out, something that Gajeel had missed on their journey from the train station to the guild. Just right now, the sun sickened him. He was sweating under his clothes, sticky and uncomfortable and hot. Pantherlily hadn't been at home when Gajeel had left his luggage there earlier, and not for the first time the Iron Dragon Slayer found himself unwilling to look for him, particularly when he knew it would warrant unwanted questions from the black Exceed. He didn't feel like answering questions about anything right now. He set off at a jog, sneering at Laxus' tall, cloaked figure as he passed him, biting back a remark on the fact that the Lightning Slayer was so thickly clothed even with this heat, and just kept going.

There was only one place to go with this heat.

Magnolia's Beach.

* * *

Shedding his clothes off – save for his boxers – on the hot sand, Gajeel stepped straight into the water, wading in quickly and stopping when the water had reached mid-thigh. There, he sighed deeply and closed his eyes, concentrating. He memorized the flow of the water lapping against his skin, content to simply let himself soak in as he took step after step deeper into the water, until he was completely submerged.

Nearly three years ago, when he'd been with Phantom and before he'd joined Fairy Tail, he'd avoided water at all cost. His companionship with Juvia, the Rain Woman, had brought him to fear the liquid more than anything else, and either way water transportation was a no-go for him, and always had been. But after he'd joined Fairy Tail, and had witnessed several of its members setting off for the town's beach on days like this one, he'd figured he might as well see what all the fuss was about. And so he'd realized that water could be one of his best and most loyal companions if he knew how to enjoy it. And he did. More so than swimming, Gajeel was content with letting himself sink underwater or float on the surface when the water was salty enough to hold his weight up. Dragon Slayer practice had long widened and strengthened his lungs enough that he could remain underwater without breathing for much longer than most humans could.

It was an incredible relaxant, and one available to him on any whim he might have.

Approximately ten minutes later, Gajeel finally emerged, missing the feel of water on his face almost immediately. He turned to the beach, and from the corner of his eye caught blond hair disappearing along the path back to Magnolia.

He knew immediately who it had been. Lucy had been watching him.

With this dragging him back to reality, Gajeel figured he had some thinking to do on what Makarov had told him. He'd done enough of eluding the subject at hand for the day.

He trudged back onto the beach, grabbing his clothes off the ground but not putting them back on since they were now incrusted with sand. He stared down at the bundle of clothes in his hands, lost in thought for a few seconds. Urano Metria… He'd seen the spell cast during the Grand Magic Games, though its effect had never actually been finalized. He'd heard from Natsu about the first time it had happened. From what he knew, that spell was the culmination of Celestial Mage spells, drawing to the caster the energy of the stars. If the strongest Celestial Magic spell equalled the strength of a Dragon Slayer's strongest state, Dragon Force, in which scales appeared on the Dragon Slayer's body…

Gajeel gulped. If Lucy's control on that spell, and on her powers in general, was not optimal, things like that dark mage being killed were the least of their worries.

The Iron Dragon Slayer looked up, eyes scanning the road back to Magnolia. He breathed in deeply. Lucy's scent still hung in the air. He wondered if she'd told her friends – the flame head and the popsicle. And Erza. But then he remembered what the Requip Mage had told the Master earlier, and he knew that she didn't know. Which also meant that the other two idiots didn't know.

He'd never wanted to share anything with the blonde. He'd never wanted to be burdened with a secret he hadn't volunteered to keep. He'd never believed the girl would ever trust him enough to entrust him with such an important secret in the first place. And he realized that she hadn't been given a choice in the matter, anymore than he had. He'd been the only one left to see her lose control, and that was the only reason she'd asked him not to tell, and the only reason he now knew what he did about her.

But even though he had not asked for his current predicament…he couldn't say he regretted being in this situation. He'd long looked for a way to be accepted by the guild he'd almost destroyed and yet had found a home in. He'd told himself he'd found those ways – with his participation in the Grand Magic Games, Edolas, Tenroujima during the S-Class Trials and the after-math of the seven-year gap, and any number of other things. But still… He'd yet to find his place here. And for that reason, he didn't mind sharing a secret with the Celestial Mage. It might have been selfish to so desperately look for a way to be accepted by Fairy Tail, but Gajeel didn't think so.

He loved Fairy Tail; had come to genuinely _like_ being a part of it and of its people. Wasn't that enough for them to love him back? To _trust_ him back? It shouldn't have been, but he knew it wasn't – if only because none of them actually knew what his true feelings were. Not even Levy knew, because he'd never, so far, let any of them see his inner self.

He was going to help the Bunny Girl. If her powers had grown as strong and uncontrollable as Makarov seemed to think, then only a Dragon Slayer could help her. And if the blonde had chosen not to tell her best friends about it, Gajeel had no right to go and divulge what was not his to divulge.

It was with that decision in mind that the Iron Dragon Slayer set off for his home. On the way there, as he took bumpy and earthy roads that led him farther and farther away from the town of Magnolia, he knew, all to well, that he was being followed, and that the person following him was Lucy. Her smell hung in the air.

There was something about the Celestial Mage's presence that made her unique in the eyes of a Dragon Slayer. A certain feel about her that meant that she had a distinctive aura, one that all Celestial Mage's shared and yet that was different for each one. In reality, Celestial Mages – true Celestial Mages – lived their lives so closely entwined with that of their spirits, that those spirits became a part of their master's identity. In Lucy's aura and presence, there was herself, but there was also Loke, and Aries, and Taurus, and Virgo, and all of those lives that she had intertwined with her own so readily and voluntarily. Celestial Mages were perhaps the Mages of this world that were the most courageous, because they were the only ones who accepted to take on not only their own well-being, and the responsibility to protect the rest of humanity, but also their spirits'.

They were brave, and selfless, and good, and they had the same responsibilities as parents, only one hundred times over. For that, he had learned to have the utmost respect for Lucy and those like her and whom he knew loved their spirits. It took a strong person to love so many others so deeply that you trusted them with your life. That was another reason why he respected Fairy Tail so and had wanted to join them; they trusted _all_ of their teammates implicitly, and would have given any of them their lives. Some had nearly done so the day he and Phantom Lord had attacked Magnolia looking for Lucy, and a countless number of times after that. That was just who they were.

On the other hand, there was nobody, and in fact there had probably never been anyone, whom he had trusted with his life.

He had wanted to. Ever since he'd joined Fairy Tail and seen these people together, like an over-extended family, he'd _wanted_ to. Desperately. But he couldn't seem to be able to let himself go enough to _trust_ – just _trust_.

And maybe – just maybe – deep in his heart – for he did have one, despite common beliefs – maybe it was that he desperately hoped that, with what they shared now, he would one day be able to trust Lucy, and that she would one day be able to trust _him_, the way Fairy Tail ought to trust its nakama.

But he would never admit that to himself. Even if it _was_ true.

* * *

Minutes after he'd gotten home, he stood with his back to the wall beside the entrance door, waiting.

Lucy was on the other side of that door. He'd smelled her when she'd reached the house, and he'd expected her to knock on his door right away. It was easy to guess why she was here; why she'd _followed_ him all the way out here. She meant to talk to him about what had happened, quite simply. What she expected would come of their conversation, however, he didn't know. But she wasn't knocking on his door, and she'd been standing outside of it for three full minutes, and he'd been standing against the wall for the same amount of time. Just waiting.

He didn't know if she was waiting for something now. Waiting for him, perhaps. The lights in his home were still off; ever since he'd developed his Shadow techniques, he'd been able to see in the dark as in full daylight. On getting home he'd gone straight to his room, had dressed in clean clothes, his usual set, and that was the time it had taken until he'd gone to stand inside his door expecting for the blonde girl on the other side to knock and for him to let him in. But it hadn't happened like that. It still wasn't happening like that. She was just standing there, waiting for something, and he didn't know what it was, but the lights were off, so it was possible that she thought that he'd gone back out again, and was waiting for him to make his presence known, or waiting for him to return home from wherever he'd gone, and if something didn't happen soon she'd leave and—

Without thinking, before he even realized what he was doing, Gajeel flung the door open.

He stood in its mouth, chest heaving for some unknown reason, and Lucy looked up at him, surprised and flustered and a little frown on her face.

"G-Gajeel."

He raised an eyebrow. Could she maybe have hoped that he wasn't home after all? That she wouldn't have to talk to him, or see him, or get anywhere near him? Could she really be that disgusted by him? Or that frightened?

Gajeel shook himself silently. He'd beaten the girl to a bloody pulp the first time he'd seen her, had taken all of his rage out on her as though she were his play-thing. Of course she was afraid. Who wouldn't be?

Except she didn't _smell_ like fear. She smelled of reluctance. Of apprehension.

He stepped aside, his eyes never leaving hers as he opened the door wider and wordlessly invited her inside. She stepped past him quickly, and the flinch in her body when it brushed his had his eyes flashing and himself biting back a growl. He wanted to snap at her that she had no reason to be afraid of him, but he knew how stupid that sounded, so he didn't say anything, only closed the door behind her and walked in after her into the living room, flicking on light switches as he went.

"Why- Why are the lights off?" Lucy asked quietly, looking around her. "I thought you weren't home."

"Night vision," he growled more than he meant to. He cleared his throat. "Shadow Technique."

The blonde nodded and looked away.

Gajeel jerked his head in the sofa's direction to indicate for her to sit down, but caught himself at the last second. He tightened his jaw, huffed through his nose, and said, his voice pulled as tight as a string, "Sit there," before kicking himself mentally. That was no better than giving her an order! She was his guest, for fuck's sake!

He tried to smile apologetically at her as she lowered her head dejectedly and went to take the seat that he had indicated, but he figured it probably came out as more of a grimace when she saw the expression on his face and tensed visibly. He cleared his throat again, hating that she was making him feel so uncomfortable and inappropriate. "Sorry," he said gruffly. "I'm not exactly used to having…_guests_."

He was somewhat surprised when she cleared her throat too, and it suddenly occurred to him that in this situation, they were both as uncomfortable as the other.

"It's…That's fine," she said, her eyes still looking at the ground. Her hands were fidgeting on her lap. "I…Gajeel," she said suddenly, looking up and straight at him as he took a seat opposite her, sprawling back on the second sofa with his arms on the back of it. "I just wanted to thank you." At his raised eyebrows, she sighed and let her eyes fall shut gently. "I just…I don't exactly trust you. I mean, I trust you as a comrade, as nakama of Fairy Tail, but I don't know if it would be right to trust you as _my_ nakama. After what happened when you attacked Magnolia… I mean, I'm not sure what to think of you. But I know Natsu trusts you, would trust you with his life now with everything that's happened, and that – that means a lot to me. I'm trying…" She trailed off, her voice breaking, and straightened her back, looking up at the ceiling nervously as she continued speaking. Her voice was shaking. "I'm trying desperately, okay? I'm trying to believe that you wouldn't do anything to hurt me, to hurt _us _– the Guild I mean – and _fuck_, it's hard. But I'm trying, and I think that's important. And I realize that that's probably exactly how you feel about all of us, the same way that we feel about you. We're all…except for Natsu…trying to learn to trust each other. Even after all this time."

She lowered her gaze then, slowly, and looked at him, really looked at him, for the first time since she'd stepped into his home. "Even three years later… I think we all realize now how hard it is to forgive. It's always been Natsu's gift to forgive people when they truly deserved it, but I'm not that strong. I'm…I'm sorry for burdening you with my…problem," she said, and she spat the word out through gritted teeth, "but I really hope it won't ruin the efforts we've made until now." She stood then, and her aura simmered, confident like it hadn't been when she'd first stood on his doormat. "I'm sorry for bothering you tonight. Have a nice evening."

And by the time Gajeel had blinked and snapped out of the daze that her words had induced, she was gone, walking out the same way she'd come.

He stood out of his lazy sprawl, and walked up to the door that she had left open on the way out. The night breeze didn't bother him, but he hadn't noticed that it gotten this late. The stars twinkled above him, and he wondered how long ago it was that she had left. He looked after what he imagined to be her, far off on the road back to Magnolia, lonely and yet never quite alone.

"You're stronger than you think, Lucy Heartfilia."

And he closed the door.


	4. Chapter 4: Crying Shame: Part 2

_A/N: This chapter was betaed by **DarkVampireFae.**_

_Guyz... What are you all doing? I know it's only been a little over a week since the last update, but still? Only ONE review? Where are you people all gone! **REVIEW**! It's really important for the author to get feedback on what he/she writes!_

_If you like my work, you can **check my profile** for details as to where you can contact me as on **tumblr** and **facebook**, and also vote on the **poll** there. ^_^_

_Thank you for reading meeeeee!_

_~Tenshi_

* * *

CHAPTER 4: Beacon in the Sky

* * *

Gajeel couldn't see the guild the way he had before after Lucy's speech.

For the next two weeks, every day was an effort he hadn't had to make in a long time. Not ever since his first few months in Fairy Tail, actually. Not since he'd been Gramps' spy and double agent and hadn't been able to tell the others when they doubted him. Most of them, over the last years, had been able to guess at that – Laxus, Cana, Mirajane, Gray, even Natsu, as dumb as people thought he was. Erza had been part of the ones who took the longest to forgive him and what he'd been. He had a feeling that Lucy had at least suspected something from the beginning, by the looks she sometimes gave him, a mix of pity and fearful curiosity.

She'd told him, that night at his home, that she trusted him as a nakama of Fairy Tail, but wasn't sure how to trust him as her _own_ nakama. He understood that. Understood it better than she probably thought, in fact, for that had been exactly the sort of relationship he'd entertained with Juvia and the others of Phantom Lord. In battle, fighting for their guild, he would have trusted them with his back, but never with his life, and never entirely. Outside of guild matters, they were not friends, not the way most if not all of the Fairy Tail members were. They were rivals, not quite enemies and not associates. If one of the others got even a glimpse of the _you_ beyond the guild, you could already consider yourself blackmailed or left for dead with your brain smashed in and your body broken in half over the railways.

There was no pity. No companionship. No help to be expected from Phantom Lord, even if you were a part of Phantom Lord.

And there was certainly no mercy.

When he'd joined Fairy Tail, he hadn't been entirely sure why he'd done it. Natsu's power had intrigued him; Elfman's strength had sent chills down his spine; Makarov's retribution had taken the breath from him; but most of all, it was Lucy's determination, which had driven him up the walls when he'd been first faced with it after he'd captured her, which had later made him want to understand these people. Yes, that had been it; at first, only a wild, insatiable desire to understand them, to understand how and why they did things. Then that desire had turned to need, a burning, aching need that had flared in the middle of his stomach and had seemed to never be able to abate. He'd stayed, had become Makarov's double agent instead of his son's, Ivan.

And learned to believe in this way of living.

What he'd long considered a weakness – trust, put simply – he now saw as a strength. When you didn't have to watch your back for a suddenly drawn knife, didn't have to watch your step lest you tripped on an outstretched leg; it was then that you suddenly realized just how much more energy you could concentrate on the fight in front of you.

He was much stronger now than he'd ever been in Phantom Lord. And for that selfish reason, he too had come to trust Fairy Tail itself. Because they'd made him stronger than he'd ever been before, and because strength was still, after all this time, one of the few things he truly believed in.

He was learning. Slowly, but surely. One day, perhaps, he'd come to value notions that even now he considered silly and useless on their own; things like love and friendship.

Nevertheless, he'd never consciously told himself that Fairy Tail didn't trust him. Lucy's revelation the other day, that they were nearly all as unsure about him as he was about them, had shaken something in him.

The day after Lucy had first stepped into his home, when Gajeel strolled as per usual into the guild, his eyes and posture were just that little bit harder than they had been just the day before. He didn't answer Natsu's taunts, and when she came up to him he stared at Levy as though he had never seen her, then went to his usual corner and sat down with still not a word spoken.

Unsure what to do with herself and the blatant cold-shoulder that Gajeel had just given her, Levy had fidgeted in her spot for a few seconds before trotting after Gajeel and plopping herself down in her usual spot beside him. This was their usual routine, but the man's behaviour as it was now hadn't been this way ever since before Tenroujima. It had been two years since then, and Levy had long succeeded in breaking through his shell of resentment and self-loathing – or so she'd thought. But he was ignoring her now, not answering her friendly chatter, her questions, or the quick, startled looks she gave him every time he ignored her all over again. He wouldn't even look at her, and Levy couldn't understand it. By the time ten minutes had passed of her unsuccessfully trying to get him to talk to her with idle chatter, the blue-haired girl was convinced she'd done something to make him change his behaviour so radically. Eventually she stood up, and when he still didn't say anything, didn't even look at her, she left the table they'd shared these past two years, shoulders hunched, under the curious looks of half the other guild members.

When Levy had gotten to the bar and was sitting between Erza and Lisanna, Mirajane looked at her, surprised to see her there, and when her eyes fell on the self-absorbed and scowling Gajeel, her gaze immediately hardened. She turned to Levy, who wouldn't look at either of them and was in the process of being comforted by a confused and gentle Erza and Lisanna, and one look at her face was enough to convince the usually temperate barmaid that something had happened. Not wasting another second, she threw her napkin on the bar, came out from behind it, and went stomping over to the Iron Dragon Slayer's table with her hands on her hips and an angry frown on her face.

She stood in front of him, tapping her foot and half-leaning forward, until an irritated Gajeel looked up at her with a scowl and raised an annoyed eyebrow.

"What?" he barked in aggravation, and that was apparently enough to set the lovely white-haired woman off, under the curious stares of what was now the entire guild.

"_'What'_?" Mirajane erupted. "Gajeel, I should be the one asking you that! What the hell is up with you today?!"

A little taken aback by her suddenly loud voice, Gajeel drew himself back, surprised despite himself. "Huh…what?"

But Mirajane threw her hands up into the air, and Gajeel knew instantly that he hadn't given her the right answer. "Would you stop saying that?! And…" at this she lowered her voice and pointed a threatening finger at him, leaning forward even more, "and also, while you're at it, tell me why Levy is up there and not sitting right at this table, with your idiotic face?"

Gajeel snapped his mouth closed and glared. So that was why she was here?

"Because she stood up on 'er two legs an' walked over there, is why."

Fuming, Mirajane frowned at him even more if that was possible, and angrily whisper-shouted, "Don't give me your smart-ass talking-back, Gajeel Redfox. Not to me. _What did you say to her?"_

"Nothing," the man said, shrugging disinterestedly and looking away. "Maybe she's just havin' a bad day. You considered that?"

But after that, the 'bad days' only seemed to accumulate, and for the next two weeks every morning went on the same; Gajeel came into the guild, Levy came up to greet him, he ignored her, went to sit down; she followed him, tremendously unsure of herself, and eventually walked away from him only for Mirajane to come storming up to him, getting angrier ever day.

Then eventually Levy gave up trying to talk to him, and it was when he found himself back to the way he'd been in his first year in Fairy Tail, alone and ignored all day and everyday, that Gajeel realized just how much he'd fucked up.

He'd been ignoring Levy because he'd thought that since neither trusted the other, he didn't want her or himself to have to pretend they did. But it was only two weeks later, sitting alone at their normally shared table, that he realized just how stupid his reasoning had been. They didn't trust each other yet; but it was the friendship that they had been slowly building up these past years that would eventually have helped them to do just that; to trust each other. And now he'd gone and wasted all that effort, and he knew it was too late. In just two weeks, he'd ruined not only his relationship with Levy, but also with the rest of the guild, because he'd let them see the way he ignored the girl, and because he hadn't cared what they thought.

He hadn't been trying, not the way Lucy had told him he ought to, the way she'd said they all were trying. He'd been throwing everything out the window, and that made him an idiot.

Two weeks. That was all it took, and suddenly he was back to the way he'd been three years ago. Had it really been a fortnight ago that he'd defended Levy in front of Laxus? It seemed hard to believe.

So two weeks after Lucy had come to his house, he sat in the guild park with the sun shining, alone. His back was to a tree, and he was busy tearing apart a fresh leaf he'd found on the ground near him. There hadn't been many people in the park to begin with, but as soon as he'd stepped in, the people that _had_ been there had begun trickling out gradually. Eventually he'd been left alone.

He'd realised a few days ago that the guild was avoiding him. And it had been another day before he'd realized that he'd hadn't seen nor heard of Lucy ever since she'd come to his home the evening after they'd returned from their mission on Sylva Island. Natsu hadn't been around much either, not after that first day when he'd started ignoring Levy. Gray and Erza had been there, but both were more subdued than usual, and the Ice Mage had not reacted to the usual remarks about his stripping habits.

Gajeel was convinced that something was going on with Lucy, because that was the only thing that would explain both her absence and her best friends' absence or moroseness. He was about to be proven right.

The guild's training grounds were adjacent to the park, and as soon as he heard the screams, he knew that that was where they were coming from. And he also recognised the voice. Three voices, to be precise.

Mirajane, Natsu…and Lucy.

And next to those heart-wrenching screams, the sounds of magic – pure, powerful, unrestrained magic – and the sounds of the effects that that magic was having on its surroundings.

Destruction.


	5. Chapter 5: Can't Take My Eyes Off of You

_A/N: New chapteeeer! :D yay 3_

_So guyz, I heard from a few reviewers that__** the third chapter had been marked as non-existent for some of you. During a conversation with said reviewers, I re-uploaded Chapter 3 and received confirmation that it had become visible.**__ Therefore if some of you had this problem and want to go back and read it, since you probably didn't understand wtf was happening in Chapter 4 without having read the chapter before that, go ahead! And guyz, do contact me if there's ever a problem with anything about this story. How else can I know if nobody tells me anything? :P_

_This chapter was betaed by DarkVampireFae._

_REVIEWS! :P_

_~Tenshi_

* * *

CHAPTER 5: Can't Take My Eyes of off You

* * *

It was already over when Gajeel got there.

Lucy was kneeling on the ground with her hands over her ears, rocking back and forth, her bangs hiding her face; her entire body was shaking like a leaf would in gale-force winds. Mirajane was on one knee beside her, one hand on Bunny Girl's back and obviously trying to comfort the shivering girl.

Natsu, for his part, was right behind the two women. He, too, was on his knees, fists tight and planted into the ground; and he, too, was shaking bodily; but the smell his body gave off was completely different from that of the other two. He smelled of fury, of incomprehension; Mirajane smelled of fear, and sympathy; and Lucy herself reeked of guilt.

In front of these three, was a hole, blown forward and digging right into the ground. An oval of thirty feet long, thinner at the end and at the root of it and getting exponentially wider in the center – exponentially more frightening. Lucy was at its tip; the energy had seemed to flow from her and outward.

Because it had come from her, hadn't it? She looked traumatized; Mirajane was comforting her and the hem of her dress was burnt; and it was only as he got closer that Gajeel noticed the smoke rising from Natsu's bare hands.

Natsu, who literally ate fire; who had lived with it and had grown up with a dragon; who never got burnt because _fire shouldn't have been able to burn him – _his hands were the scorching, blistering red of what was at least a second degree burn.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

When she heard his voice Mirajane rose, her fists tight and glaring at Gajeel as though he were the last person she wanted to see – which was probably true. But before she could take even a step toward him or say anything, Natsu was between them, his fist swinging back for the hit and his eyes full of hatred.

"Don't."

Lucy's voice cut in seconds before Natsu hit him. The Fire Dragon Slayer's fist stood millimetres in front of his face, Gajeel recoiling too late and hissing as he glared at the pink-haired man's fingers and then at him. If Lucy hadn't said anything, he would have taken that blow straight into his nose.

"Lucy," Natsu hissed between gritted teeth, angrier than he had ever seen him and his eyes flaring as red as his fuming hands.

"Natsu." Lucy gave a little laugh; painfully fake; tremblingly weak. "It's okay. It's alright."

There was an 'I trust him' hanging in the air and on the tip of all their tongues, but Lucy didn't say it. Gajeel swallowed. Natsu stepped aside anyway, still glaring, his balled fist falling away reluctantly. Gajeel glanced down at the pink-haired boy's burns briefly, then met his eyes and nodded. He was clumsily trying to show his 'compassion' – as complicated as that was for him – but Natsu didn't seem to understand it that way and narrowed his eyes at him instead.

Gajeel walked past him before he took another fist in the face, but as he grew near to Lucy, eyeing the oval crater arching forward from her, Mirajane stepped towards him, obviously prepared to have to defend the younger girl against whatever it was that Gajeel had in store for her. The Iron Slayer stopped, eyeing the demoness warily, but as soon as Lucy, still kneeling and keeping her head down, realized what was happening, her voice rose again, still frighteningly weak.

"You have no business being here, Gajeel."

"Mira."

The demoness jolted.

"Let him through."

Her fists tightened. But she, too, stepped aside.

He kept his eyes on Lucy as he walked past Mirajane. One glare would be enough to set her off; he knew it. It didn't matter what Lucy told them; once they saw something that could give any proof that he meant harm, there would be no holding them off him.

He knelt beside Lucy, unsure of what to do, fists tightening and relaxing as he considered his options. He raised an uncertain hand, and let it fall on her head, patting the top of it awkwardly and rather heavily. Lucy surprised him when he heard her giggle a little at that, but when her posture wavered and she fell to the side and into him he was prepared, and he caught her. Her forehead and her arms burned against his own arms, against his palms; her body heat was alarmingly high, but it was no fever. Gajeel knew what this was. It was the energy inside her, that Celestial Magic that Makarov had warned him about. It was escaping her Spirits' control, leaking into her through her keys and through her contract with them.

His eyes flicked up and over the ruined landscape – the soil that had been blasted away and that monstrous hole in the ground where Lucy had aimed her magic. Mirajane's dress had been a little burnt; she'd nearly hit her, and hadn't missed by much. Natsu hands were burnt, and badly, though that shouldn't even have been possible; he'd taken the brunt of it, and then had somehow ended up behind Lucy after getting hit, looking as pissed off as he ever got. Why was the flame brain angry? Knowing him the way he did, Gajeel knew that Natsu couldn't have been angry at Lucy for losing control of her magic – there was now way she would have hurt any of them intentionally. Natsu would never hold an accident against her. So why did he look so furious?

When Gajeel had gotten here after over-hearing the commotion, the two of them had protected Lucy instinctively, so obviously it wasn't her they were angry at. And it couldn't be at him either since he'd only gotten there after the entire thing was already over, and they'd looked irritated before they even noticed he was standing there. _So why were they angry?_

Just as he was thinking this, two people came rushing into the training grounds: Wendy and Makarov, both surprised to see Lucy resting against the notably cold Iron Dragon Slayer while Mirajane and Natsu stood slightly apart, glaring them down. The two exchanged a look and hurried forward, followed by a strolling Laxus who had probably overheard the scene. Though there was no doubt that half of Magnolia had seen the light from the training grounds, such an explosion of magic was no new occurrence coming from the Fairy Tail members, and the guild as well as Magnolia's inhabitants were used to bright lights and big explosions that were the results of failed or successful attempts at spell-casting. Only those who had actually heard the screams – those with a sense of hearing as acute as a Dragon Slayer's – would have known that something was wrong. Wendy would have heard and alerted the Master, while Laxus would have just stood up and left without asking anybody's permission or answering any questions.

Since Lucy didn't look in any immediate pain and seemed to have no apparent injuries, Wendy headed straight for the badly burnt Natsu, immediately fussing over his hands, instructing him to sit down so she could start working and unconsciously getting his attention away from his best friend and from Gajeel. Makarov went to stand by Mirajane and started asking questions, both of them eyeing the ruined terrain critically as Mira gestured and talked. As for Laxus, he stopped some steps away, hands in his pockets carelessly and eyeing the entire scene as though it were the funniest thing in the world.

He seemed especially amused by the sight of Lucy leaning all her weight on a rather confused Gajeel, who very obviously had no idea where to put his hands without it making him seem like a pervert and had settled with placing them on the hip that wasn't against him, keeping the girl securely nestled against his chest. Laxus grinned a dirty grin; if that had been him, he wouldn't even have hesitated before taking advantage of her position.

Feeling the blond's lewd stare on him, Gajeel growled mechanically, looking up to glare at the other man from his position on the ground.

"Got a problem, Dreyar?" he snapped.

Laxus shrugged, still grinning. "Nah," he drawled, then took a few steps forward and sat on the ground in front of them, still a few steps away, lounging back on his hands and legs outstretched. "Just wondering why the fuck she's asleep against you of all people, when her best friend and Mira are right there behind her just waiting to be used as crutches."

Gajeel started a little, looking down. He hadn't noticed that she was asleep, too busy with trying to figure out where to put his hands, but as he concentrated on her breathing and felt her chest rising and falling, deeply and steadily against his, he realized that Laxus was right. She had just fallen asleep on him. Literally.

And then the rest of what Laxus had said hit him too. She was…asleep on him, had decided to rest against _him_ of all people, instead of on her best friend or on Mira, who was possibly, with Wendy and Lucy herself, one of the sweetest, kindest people in the guild. But no, she'd insisted that Natsu and Mira let him through, and as soon as he'd reached her had collapsed on him as though that was the one thing she'd been waiting for.

Him.

And why? He had an idea, but it really wasn't anything he could tell Laxus to wipe the smug grin off his face.

"Gajeel," he heard Makarov call from somewhere behind him.

He nodded his acknowledgement but didn't move, too afraid he'd wake the blonde up.

Wait, why did he even give a _damn_ if he woke her up or not?

"I need you to carry Lucy back to her home. Wendy will be over soon afterwards to look her over, as soon as she's done with Natsu."

Gajeel nodded reluctantly, but he had nothing better to do anyway, and no excuse to give to refuse. Makarov would probably never actually trust his grandson alone around an unconscious girl like Lucy; Natsu's hands were badly burnt and he probably wouldn't have been able to carry her even if he'd tried because of them; and though anybody else in the guild could have done it, Gajeel realized the old man's desire to keep the affair as private and quiet as possible.

When he rose with Lucy in his arms and turned to begin the walk to the blonde's apartment, the look he saw pass between Makarov and Laxus very clearly told the younger man to shut up about whatever he'd seen or heard. Laxus shrugged non-committedly and looked away, but Gajeel knew that the Lightening Dragon Slayer would never say a thing about this to another living being as long as Makarov was there to take his due.

"Master," Mirajane suddenly said as Gajeel had just begun walking away, "wouldn't it be safer to bring Lucy to a more reclused home? It will raise questions from the towns people and from her landowner if Lucy is brought home in such a state of exhaustion. And…well…" She gestured towards Gajeel himself, her gaze critical. "People will notice him, and if they do, wind of it will get back to the guild." It was true that Gajeel rarely went out into the town, and that when he did people tended to turn around and stare at him, so he understood her concern and said nothing to discredit her.

"That's true, Mirajane," Makarov nodded thoughtfully, looking at the Iron Dragon Slayer. "Gajeel, do you have a spare room in your home?" Laxus snickered at that, but the sound faded away quickly. "Could you bring Lucy to your house until she recovers, however long that takes? I seem to remember that you live rather far away from the town – enough so that rarely anybody ever wanders anywhere close. Natsu's home would have done normally, but I think I recall that he rarely has enough food there to feed even himself and Happy, and with his burnt hands he won't be able to take care of anyone else for at least a week, not until Wendy's magic starts taking effect."

Natsu snorted at that and turned away, visibly frustrated with his inability to take care of Lucy, and Wendy scolded him for moving, still busy over his hands.

"Yeah, that's fine," Gajeel said gruffly, nodding at the old Master. "I can do that. I don't have a spare room but I'll make some space."

Makarov nodded back at him, satisfied. "That's settled then." He turned away from the Iron Dragon Slayer, and gestured for Mira to follow him as he headed back inside. "Wendy, when you're done with Natsu, the two of you come to my office."

The blue-haired girl nodded energetically, never looking away from her work. "Yes Master!"

With his orders received, Gajeel switched directions again, heading instead towards the forest. Lucy wasn't exactly what he would call light, but she wasn't heavy either, and he knew he didn't have to hurry to get to his home; he could have held up for several miles without tiring. First he walked along the forest itself, but soon cut through it to join a road that ran on the other side of the trees, leaving the beach in front of him and the forest and the guild to his right.

Again, same as two weeks ago, he realized soon enough that he was being followed, this time by a skulking Laxus. So when he got to his home he didn't bother closing the door behind him, leaving it wide open instead and calling out when Laxus didn't follow him inside. The Lightening Dragon Slayer came in grumbling and grouchy at having been discovered, slamming the door shut behind him like a reluctant child as Gajeel smirked from inside the house where the blond couldn't see him.

He heard Laxus fumbling for the light switches as he made his way inside the house, Gajeel having as per usual stepped inside without turning on the lights. He hardly ever _did_ turn them on anymore; he didn't need them, and at least it meant he spent less money on electricity bills that way. But he tended to forget that his guests couldn't necessarily see in the dark as well as him. Not that he had a lot of guests anyway; Lucy, and now Laxus, had been the most people he'd had at his home in the last three years. In fact, he realized now that Laxus had never been to his home before. Nobody in the guild, save for Juvia, knew where he lived, and Juvia only knew because she'd been nosy and had followed him home once.

He'd made sure she never wanted to follow him home again.

As Laxus made his way into his home, flicking on lights and assessing everything he saw, Gajeel stepped into the living room and gently settled Lucy onto the couch, laying her across its length and shoving a cushion under her head at one end. Laxus followed him in and raised an eyebrow.

"You're not gonna give her your own bed?"

Gajeel sneered at him. "She's my guest, not my queen. There ain't no way I'm giving 'er my bed." He looked up from his work and stared at Laxus. "I ain't gonna pretend to be what I ain't. I ain't no gentleman. I don't wanna give my bed up, and I won't. Who ever actually _wants_ to give their shit up for people they don't even like half the time?"

Laxus growled at him, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. "People who want to fit in, fuckface. People who actually have _friends_."

"This coming from you? You ain't got nothing to say, Sparky. You tried to destroy this guild and all the people that go with it more times than I did. In the end, I _defended_ it from you, didn't I?"

"Shut up," Laxus growled, his eyes flashing dangerously, his fingers itching with restrained electricity.

"I ain't gonna shut up. This is my home. My territory. I'll say what ever the fuck I want, and you ain't gonna protest shit about it. Get that? You followed me here; you don't like what I say, then feel free to fuck off. I ain't gonna stop you. The door's right behind you."

And Gajeel turned away, dismissing him.


	6. Chapter 6: Hate This & I'll Love You

_A/N: Basically a mini-chapter xD This is basically just a short insight into Laxus' mind; I felt like it needed to stand out from the rest. Enjoy some Lightning Dreyar guyz. ^^_

_Also, I will be absent and without internet from the 21__st__ of December to the 4__th__ (roughly) of January, so since I have chapter 7 written too, I MIGHT just post it before I leave. Maybe? If I get enough reviews? ; D Otherwise you guyz will just have to wait until after the holidays. : 3_

_This chapter was betaed by **DarkVampireFae**._

_Review! : P_

_**LAST MINUTE A/N! POSTING THIS EARLY BECAUSE HOLY SHIT WILD RHOV FAVOURITED ME!** **_** To any of you who don't know Wild Rhov, she is literally one of the MONSTER Fanfic authors of Fairy Tail Gratsu and LoLu.. Talk to a Gratsu shipper and they WILL have read AT LEAST one of her fanfics/oneshots. I know I have. : D I've read nearly all her stuff that's in fandoms I'm in (so SNK and FT mostly). She is amazing. Really. Go check her out because HOLY SHIT SHE FAVOURITED MEEEEEEE!_

_Anyways. On to the story. :D_

_~Tenshi_

* * *

CHAPTER 6: Hate This &amp; I'll Love You

* * *

Laxus stared daggers at him, but Gajeel had already turned away, completely uninterested, and had begun walking in the other direction, towards a closed door to the left of the living room.

Laxus took a step forward in anger, toward the back of the couch where Lucy was lying, and stopped. He look down the top of the couch, looking at her sleeping face and somehow even more enraged by her peaceful expression. She was beautiful, and that had always bugged him. He wasn't sure why exactly. But the fact that she was so perfect – both strong and beautiful and honest to everyone – angered him to no ends every time he saw her. It was automatic. Even just her presence anywhere near to him irritated him and instantly caused him to gnaw his teeth together and turn away from her. It was either that or snapping at her whenever his saw her. And sometimes he did; he couldn't help it.

It was true that Laxus had gone against the Guild more times than Gajeel had. He had no lessons to give in terms of fitting in; he didn't fit in and had never tried to. But he knew that if he had been the one with a guest in his home, he would have given them a proper bed. Not _his_ bed; the mansion he called his house had ten or more bedrooms to speak of, and he wouldn't have actually needed to give up his own bed. He would have done so, he knew that, but he wasn't sure why exactly, since he had never tried to fit in before coming to the guild, despite what he had told Gajeel. He despised society and its laws, the way it worked and the thousand ways it didn't work. But still, he'd have given up his bed if need be. For anyone.

Except Lucy.

And there it was again, his hatred of the girl laying unconscious in front of him, burning in the pit of his stomach as though it were something alive. He bared his teeth as he looked at her, but stopped himself from growling just in time, remembering that Gajeel wasn't far away and would have heard him instantly, only to forcefully throw him out – or try. But Laxus couldn't have been arsed to have to resist Gajeel throwing him out; instead he kept quiet and stared at the beautiful blonde girl, trying to remember when, and why, he'd started hating her.

After a while he turned away, too, tearing his eyes from her face with some difficulty, and took to the door, because there was nothing else left for him to do here. Gajeel had made it clear that he wasn't welcome here. Hell only knew why he'd even followed the Iron Dragon Slayer to his home. Curiosity, maybe. Morbid curiosity, following someone he hated and who was carrying someone he hated even more.

Laxus didn't really understand his own motives. He didn't think he ever had, if he was completely honest with himself. But he had a feeling his hatred of Lucy Heartfilia might have something in common with his past hatred of Fairy Tail. Common ground.

But then what was it?

As he walked, Laxus looked around himself, at the forest to his left, at the rooftops of Magnolia, which he could see in the distance, over the hills and sparse trees facing him. He looked at the stretching plains of flat land to his right, and then pictured the house he had just left behind him, solely because he didn't want to be seen looking back. Laxus Dreyar never looked back on anything. Not him. Not ever.

Did he love this place? Did he know it? Did he understand it? Understand the Guild, the town, its people, the difficulties they had faced over the years – many of which had been his doing?

Was this…home?

Laxus didn't know. And maybe this was what had pushed him to hate Lucy Heartfilia; because she had just strutted along a few years ago and burrowed her nest here like a cuckoo, and had been and felt at home almost immediately, while at that same time he was out there somewhere planning his destruction of the town and everything she loved. Everything and everyone _he_ should have loved.

But he didn't. He didn't love, he didn't destroy, he never did what he'd wanted to do. It had all failed spectacularly. He'd been banished, after proof that he didn't hate the Guild as much as he thought he did had been broadcast out there for everyone to see, courtesy of his grandfather, of Gajeel himself, of Natsu, of Mirajane – so many people who had tried to help him when he'd been trying his very best to destroy every single one of them.

Was the world crazy? Crazy to forgive, crazy to love? Laxus believed so. What else would justify such abandonment, literally putting your life in the hands of another human being?

_Humans will be humans,_ his father had told him. _They were made to betray. It is in their nature, and it always will be._

His father had been right. Ivan had betrayed them all – his son, his father, his guild, his friends. What greater proof of humanity than betrayal could a man give?

So yes, maybe that was the reason he hated Lucy.

Or, no – hate was maybe too inaccurate a word. He'd thought he'd hated them all – all of Fairy Tail – but Fairy Law had failed and had changed his definition of the word 'hatred'. No, he didn't quite _hate_ Lucy Heartfilia; as much as he despised to admit it, he was jealous of her.

Jealous of her ability to be loved by and to love those he'd grown up with, when he was left on the side-lines pining after a life he'd himself thrown away a long time ago.

He kicked at a stone as he walked, in rage at himself because jealousy wasn't something the mighty Laxus Dreyar, grandson of Makarov Dreyar, one of the ten Mage Saints, should have entertained.

But jealousy was a human trait too, wasn't it?

Wasn't it one of the causes of betrayal itself?

_Humans will be humans. They were made to betray. It is in their nature, and it always will be._

It always will be.


	7. Chapter 7: Exogenesis: Overture

_A/N: SURPRIIIIIISE! CHAPTER 7! :D_

_Alright guyz, now off I go to Ireland. I'll see you all again in 2015, alright? ; ) Y'all have a great Christmas, a great New Year, and whatever feasts it is you celebrate around that time! Personally my religion doesn't celebrate Christmas, but since it's a family tradition I'm still obliged to participate. xD_

_Don't forget to REVIEW!_

_Heisei 26, Last. 3_

_~Tenshi_

* * *

CHAPTER 7: Exogenesis: Overture

* * *

Gajeel heard the muffled sounds of Laxus' footsteps on the dried earth outside, and huffed a little when he didn't hear the door closing behind the other man. Leave it to the Lightning Dragon Slayer to always leave doors open behind him. He'd never known the man to close a single door behind himself – not if he could avoid it. Lazy arse.

He stepped out of the kitchen and through the living room, walking up to the entrance door and pushing it shut gently, so as not to wake the sleeping Lucy up. Not that he really cared. He just didn't want her waking up too soon, because he had no doubt that when she did, she'd start invading his private life and space.

He went back to the kitchen and went back to his task of cooking, surveying the eggs on the pan and the beans in the casserole. If there was one thing about him that people didn't know, it was this. When Gajeel Redfox was stressed about something and wanted to relax, he stepped into a kitchen –preferably his own since he'd rather know where everything was – and cooked. Nothing complicated – he wasn't a chef by any stretch of the mind, and couldn't actually cook anything past the most basic of dishes – pasta, eggs, beans, pudding, sausages. But the things he _could_ actually make, he never messed up.

The difference with the present experience was that though he'd first stepped into his kitchen with the firm intention of calming himself down with his usual favourite activity, he'd soon realized that Lucy wouldn't be surviving on his usual diet of screws and bolts. She needed food; proper food. And that was were the beans and eggs currently sizzling on the stove came in.

Food. He was cooking for someone else. And hell knew that was a first. He'd never cooked for anyone else before, and though he hated to admit, he was a little nervous about what the unconscious girl would say about his cooking.

He took the eggs off the pan when they were ready, and a few minutes later poured the beans out into a bowl. Behind him, he could hear the couch creaking a little, and figured that Lucy must have been starting to wake up. _Just in time,_ he thought.

"Kitchen," he called out to her, and he heard her pause and her breathing hitch before she stood up, probably wondering why the hell she was here – if she even recognised the house in the first place.

"Gajeel?" he heard her call as she moved toward him, and he suddenly remembered that she probably didn't even know where the kitchen was.

He took a few steps from the stove and stuck his head out the kitchen door, surprising her. "Here," he said simply, and went back in. She followed him shortly, sniffing the air as she caught the smell of the eggs and beans. Her eyes lit up as she saw the bowl of beans and plate of eggs, but as she took a step toward the table on which Gajeel had laid a place, she looked up at him questioningly.

He gave her his best imitation of a smile. "It's for you," he said gruffly, gesturing toward the chair and the plate. "Eat."

She smiled right back at him, and Gajeel mentally laughed at the contrast between his forced smile and hers, so brilliant and natural. She had always smiled like that.

She pulled the chair from the table and sat down, picking up the fork and knife set beside the plate and beginning to eat. After a few mouthfuls, she felt Gajeel's eyes on her and looked up, confused when he just stared at her with his head cocked to the side.

"Hum…so, what happened?" she chanced, swallowing her mouthful of beans.

Gajeel shrugged noncommittally and turned away, beginning to pick up the dirty pan and utensils he'd cooked with. "You collapsed," he said simply, busying himself as Lucy resumed eating. "Makarov asked if I could keep you here for now, until you felt better. I said yeah. T's'not like I had anythin' else ta do."

There was a short silence, and then he heard the chair scraping the floor as it was pulled back, and as Lucy's scent washed over him, he froze in complete shock. Right on cue, confirming his disbelief, Lucy's arms went around his waist, and she placed her cheek against his back as she squeezed herself against him.

Gajeel suddenly remembered where he was and tried to shake her off, gently attempting to peel her arms from around his waist. "Hey," he said gruffly, "watcha doing? Get'off me," he protested.

"Thank you," she said, "Gajeel Redfox," and he shivered when she said his name.

"Okay," he murmured after a stunned pause, and his voice broke. "You're done, now get off me. Please," he added with a second thought.

Lucy laughed and her arms slipped from his waist. He didn't turn around as she went to sit at the table and finish the food he'd made her. "Relax," she said giddily around a mouthful. "I was only saying thank you."

Gajeel huffed, still a little weak in the knees from shock. "You don't – I'm not – used to people touching me."

"It's okay," he heard her say, listening to the smile in her voice. "It's what friends do. You'll get used to it."

Gajeel froze suddenly, midway to the sink. _Friends?_

He opened his mouth to ask, but stopped when he heard her push her chair back once more, then picking up her plate and beating him to the sink to place it in it. "Is this okay? I'm not seeing a dishwasher anywhere, and you were putting your stuff there just now, too."

"Yeah…yeah, that's fine. Just…leave it there. I'll take care of it."

Lucy smiled and stepped away, watching him curiously as he finished clearing up his cooking space and set himself to washing the dishes in the sink.

"I…I never really pictured you as the cleaning-up type. Or as the cooking-type, for that matter. I kind of expected your house to be a mess all the time. I didn't think you'd bother cleaning up at all."

Gajeel snorted. "I'm a Dragon Slayer. We've got sensitive noses. A dirty house ain't for us. If ya went to Laxus' house, it'd be the same as mine. Sparkling clean."

"Natsu's is always a mess."

"And how often do you see the kid at his own place? I hear he crashes at your apartment most o' the time, right?"

Lucy started. "That makes sense, actually."

He shrugged. "Dragneel's too lazy to clean up. But it also means he can't stay at home most of the time. He sleeps outside when he does have to go to his place, and only inside when it rains or snows." He didn't add that most of the time, _he_ also slept outside, and left his own bed for Lily to sleep in.

"What about cooking? I didn't think you ever cooked anything. I mean, you don't need or eat regular food. You can just eat iron."

"I don' eat the stuff I make. Cooking relaxes me, but it doesn't make me like what I make. I just throw it out when I'm done with it, or give it to Lily when he's there."

"But that's a waste of food! The stuff you throw away…you shouldn't do that!"

"Why not? T's'no use to me, is it?"

"No, but it is to other people. You could…I don't know, give it to the homeless, or to the orphanage in town."

Gajeel snorted again. "Hell no. I don't do that shit."

"Then I'll do it. Let me stay here for a few days. Whatever you cook, I'll bring into town to give away where it's needed. I can't go home now," she added quickly when Gajeel turned to look at her. "I haven't paid my rent for the month yet, and if my landlady sees me coming in empty handed before I've paid the rend…" The girl grimaced, fidgeting on the spot. "Would you mind if I stayed here for a few days? I won't be here much anyway, I'll go to the guild today, find Natsu, Erza and Gray and go on a quest. I'll leave your home as soon as I can pay my—"

"I get it," Gajeel cut her off, looking at her critically from the corner of his eye. "Fine," he huffed, turning back to the sink. "You can stay here. T's'not like I've got anyone else comin' here. Stay as long as ya want." Then he thought of something else, and slowly let his soapy hands fall, letting the plate he'd been washing slip from his grip. He shook the water from his fingers and grabbed a dry rag from the counter. "Bunny," he said slowly, turning around and resting a hip against the sink. "There's somethin' else I oughtta tell ya."

She cocked her head at him. "What is it?"

"Dragneel…I mean, Natsu… He won't be going on a quest for a while."

* * *

"Natsu! Natsu, open up! It's me, Lucy! Please, open up for me! I…I'm sorry! I just—"

"Lucy?"

Lucy started at the Exceed's high-pitched voice from behind the door. "Happy?"

"Yeah! Wait, I'll let you in."

There was a series of ruffling sounds, then a click from the lock, and the door swung open, revealing a flying Happy. The blue Exceed, smiled at his blonde friend, launching himself at her before letting his wings pop away. Lucy caught him against her chest, and Happy snuggled in as she stepped inside and closed the door behind them.

"How are you, Happy? How was your date with Charla?"

Happy looked up from her breasts, a pout on his cute face. "Lily stole her from me! Again!"

Lucy laughed a little, but sobered up quickly enough as she looked down at the blue Exceed. "Don't worry, Happy. I know you'll get to take her out on a proper date someday. Is…is Natsu home?"

Happy's wings popped out again, and he pushed himself from her, sliding away and towards what Lucy knew to be Natsu's bedroom.

"Yeah, he got home a few minutes ago. He's in there. It's weird, he normally doesn't like sleeping in his room. I wonder why. I think it's because it smells so bad." Happy glided back towards her, hovering over her ear, one paw over his mouth. "Don't tell him I told you that."

She laughed wholeheartedly. "I won't, Happy. Don't worry."

The Exceed smiled at her and showed her to the door, then drifted away as she hung behind the door, hesitant. She raised a hand, fidgeting on the spot, about to knock, but Natsu beat her to it.

"Come in, Luce."

Her hand fell to the handle, and she pushed it open.

Natsu was sitting on his bed, his back to her and facing the window in front of the door. The sheets were rumpled and he'd obviously just pushed himself up from them, probably on hearing Lucy come into the house. The fact that he felt like he needed to change his image in front her sent a pang into her heart.

"Hey," she said, her voice breaking. He didn't say anything. Her eyes fell on his hands where they gripped the sheets, and her heart contracted again when she saw the bandages wrapped around them. "Natsu…"

"Don't, Lucy," he interrupted her. His voice was bitter. "Don't you dare say you're sorry. You wouldn't even know what you'd be saying sorry for."

"For hurting you," the girl breathed, throat tightening painfully. "Your hands…-"

Natsu jumped up to face her suddenly, the bed still between them and acting as a makeshift barricade. The Dragon Slayer's face was twisted, in rage, in disbelief, and in pain as his burnt fists tightened at his sides. Lucy sucked in a frightened breath, stepping back in the face of his fury, expression pained.

"You think I care about that?" the boy shouted in her face, eyes burning. "They'll heal! These wounds heal," he said, waving his hand about for emphasis. "They heal," he repeated, anger fading as his body relaxed. "You know what I'm angry about, though? What's really fucking annoying me?" And Lucy flinched again, shocked at his language as he fired up again. "What pisses me off is that you didn't tell us! You didn't tell any of us! Mirajane only knew because she was there the first time you lost control, but Erza, Gray, and me! Were you ever going to tell us?! Were you ever going to trust us?!"

"Natsu…"

"Gajeel knew, didn't he?" Natsu accused, staring at her as he shouted. "You trusted him. You told him for some reason, but not us. Lucy…" Natsu sighed, suddenly drained, and ran an unsteady hand through his hair before looking back up at her. "I don't understand, Lucy. I don't get it. I don't get why you'd tell him and not your best friends. Did something happen? Something that convinced you we wouldn't support you? Something that meant you thought you could tell _him_ and not us? Did we _do_ something to make you think that? Tell me, Luce. Because I don't get it. Because the fact that you never told us anything, but told _him_, hurts more than the burns on my hands do. Tell me."


	8. Chapter 8: Pink Ego Box

CHAPTER 8: Pink Ego Box

* * *

Natsu sat on one side of the bed, Lucy on the other. Back to back. Though they had argued before, it had never seemed as though there were as many things between them as there were right at that moment. They would not face each other. Lucy could not pick up the courage to get so close to the other man, not when seconds ago he'd made it incredibly clear to both of them how much he loathed her. Natsu himself had made no move to get any closer to her. They were back-to-back on the same bed, but they might as well have been miles away for all the good it did.

They stayed silent a long moment. Longer than would have been necessary. It was ironic, really; even when they were strangers things had never been so uncomfortable between them. They had been an obvious match; an immediate connection, an understanding passing between them every time they worked in tandem, each one flying in to save the other just as his or her help became crucial, or staying out when the need arose.

Betrayal had never come to their minds. Even when taunted and cheated by everyone else around them, friends and foes alike, they had never once considered leaving each other's side. In the end, their friendship, Natsu's belief in her, and in Fairy Tail, had consistently saved them all. Every single time, it was Natsu and his strength, his love, his trust – something so hard to give for everybody else, but which _he_ pelted out with every word – it was those things that would save them all. Natsu did not fight for himself, but for the guild, for everything and everyone he knew, and that was part of what made him beautiful. Part of what made his friendship so precious.

Wasn't that selfish? Because he was willing to give his life for any one of them, or for them all, they valued him all the more. It shouldn't have mattered. It shouldn't have. But it did. And suddenly Lucy could feel all the weight of this revelation crushing her into the ground and bending her shoulders under its mass. Her father had always said that greed and the will to survive were what made humans humans. Was greed all that cemented her friendship with this boy? This wonderful, beautiful, dangerous boy? Natsu was a wild beast, a flaming tornado that surpassed everything and everyone she'd ever known in terms of power and love. He was the embodiment of what every human being should be, but he had apparently made them all thirsty beasts. Beasts greedy for the grandiose survival which he had consistently provided them with over the years.

He didn't deserve them. Any of them. And she had just proven it to him.

Why hadn't she told him? Why had she kept to herself all that time? It was true; Gajeel and Mira knew, but she hadn't had a choice in that, and she had to admit to herself that if it hadn't been for the circumstances that brought her to tell them, they would never have known either.

And Lucy didn't really understand why she'd been so bent on keeping it a secret.

It wasn't that she didn't trust them, because she trusted Natsu and the guild more than words could say. They were family to her, maybe even more of a family than her father had ever been. They were everything she had left in this world. In the end, they were the only people she felt at home with. The only true home she had, and had had in years.

_So why hadn't she told them?_

It bugged her, it really did. That she hadn't, in all those recent months, even once _considered_ sharing her concerns with them. She had rejected the idea, as readily as she had first rejected the idea of putting them in danger after she'd found the guild, years ago. She hadn't even needed to think about it; it had been an obvious choice – the _only_ choice. The only way, as far as she was concerned, to live this through. It had never once occurred to her that they would want to help her, that they would be _able_ to help her.

Until Mirajane had found out and had spoken to Makarov about it, Lucy hadn't even had the faintest idea why this was happening to her. Her spirits didn't understand it anymore than she did; everyday, when she summoned them, they stayed to apologize, over and over again. From what Loki had told her, there was an overflow of magic in the Spirit World, and though none of them could understand where it came from, and why, it had to be gotten rid of somehow. So the spirits made themselves into vessels of energy, and transferred all that overflowing energy into the only other place they knew; Earthland, and the Celestial Mages carrying their keys.

Lucy hadn't blamed them for it. Really. In the same situation, she'd have done the same thing. And anyway, at first the energy hadn't posed any danger to her; but a month after it had begun, the magic at her disposal began increasing exponentially, and it was a few days later that she blew up the training grounds for the first time – and that Mirajane saw, and started asking questions.

When Mirajane proposed it, Lucy had refused to see the Guild Master. At that point she had been tired, exhausted even, her body trying in vain to keep up with the strain she put on it to stop all that energy from escaping her control completely. Her every move hurt, her limbs ached, her eyelids were heavy, but no matter how tired she ever got, sleep had never been so hard to catch. Perhaps, even then, even when it was only the start of her problems, she had been resigned to what appeared like an inevitable fate. If her own spirits, who were, more or less, at the origin of the problem, could not find a solution to it – and Mavis knew they had been trying – then how could Makarov help?

It suddenly hit her, at that moment, as she sat with her back to her best friend of nearly four years, that this didn't only touch her. It was hurting all Celestial Mages – not just her. And while she had before seemed to have no problem keeping a danger that only concerned herself secret, now that she realized that other people were possibly in the same danger as herself – an issue she had been very careful to ignore in the last months – her feelings of guilt soared, and she knew she could no longer keep it to herself.

Lucy took a deep breath. But her breath shook, and behind her Natsu's eyes widened a little.

"I'm sorry," she said to him, and though she'd said it before, this time her apology held something else to it. There was something in the way she said it, while keeping her head down, her entire body slumped as she lifted her feet, rested them on the bed and curled herself over her knees. "I'm so sorry." And suddenly she understood why she'd been keeping it a secret. "Natsu…you're always saving me, aren't you? You and the guild…Gray, Erza, Mira, Elfman, Makarov, Levy, even Laxus and Gajeel, Freed, Makarov, Bickslow… Too many times to count… You're always saving me. All of you. When have I ever saved you? When have I ever showed anything that said I was worthy of being saved? Why…why do you always save me? What makes me worth so much pain and effort? Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

There was a pause, and when Lucy took another deep breath, it didn't shake nearly as much as the first one had. "I've been thinking about this for a while, you know. Ever since I realized…ever since I realized what Fairy Tail was prepared to do for their nakama. When Phantom Lord attacked to get me back, that was it. When Erza and you and Gray and Mira and Elfman… You all could have died, but the guild stood its ground against them to get me back. Half of them probably didn't even know who I was by name – I was so new back then. I didn't understand it. How could I? You people didn't know me, and yet you were all so willing to give your lives for me. It didn't make sense. It didn't make any sense. I thought it would go away, that after a while people would forget I was there and just carry on as if nothing had happened. That I would one day be strong enough to defend myself. But none of these things ever happened. I was never strong enough, and every time I proved myself too weak, one of you just barged into the mix to save me.

"I've always been pathetic.

"And then this…this happened. So much power, so much energy at my disposal… You know, at first, it was alright. I could control it easily, and I was just that tiniest bit stronger, strong enough that I was never as exhausted as I might have been after a fight, and none of you noticed. I don't mean that in a bad way – I didn't _want_ anyone to notice, because that would have meant questions, and I didn't have any answers to give. But about a month later, it all started getting too much. My Magic increased, and it exhausted me daily just to keep it in check inside of me. I couldn't sleep, for fear of it whipping out of control and destroying half of Magnolia." Lucy nodded to herself as she spoke, eyes lost in her memories, and Natsu listened to and felt the bed shift under him as she moved slightly. "Then Mirajane saw. She panicked. Tried to help me. Told Makarov about it. Started asking questions… But I still didn't have any answers to give her, and that frightened her even more. I wouldn't see Makarov, didn't want to, and I'm only now realizing why; it was because I didn't want to be saved. Not again. Not for umpteenth time, because when I finally had all this power at my disposal and should have been able to defend myself, I still couldn't, because I wasn't able to control it.

"I knew I couldn't get out of this alone. I knew I needed help. And I hated myself even more for it.

"Then two weeks ago, there was that mission in Sylva Island. I figured it was an opportunity to get out of Makarov's sight for a while, and to get rid of some of that pent up power. But I lost control again, and while you were out of it with Gray, and Erza had already been defeated, and Laxus was outside, and Gajeel was trapped against the wall… I killed him. I killed the Mage. Gajeel told you he'd done it because I asked him to; I asked him to take the blame because I couldn't bear the fact that I'd lost control again and had taken a human life. No matter how rotten that man might have been…nobody deserves to die. That's what I've always believed. I've always sworn to myself I'd never kill, and would never participate in murder. But I broke that oath when I killed the Dark Mage at Sylva Island.

"You probably don't know this, but the probability stats for mages becoming murderers are less than half of the probability for humans to become murderers. And less than a fifth of that for Celestial Mages. That's part of the reason why I chose to become a Celestial Mage. That and because I was lonely. So very lonely…

"There. You know everything. You know just as much as I do. I asked Gajeel earlier if I could stay with him for another while. I said I needed to get rent money before returning home otherwise my landlady would kick me out. That's not the real reason, but whatever. He said I could stay as long as I want to. I don't want to bother you, so I won't ask you if I can stay here; I get that you have a lot of stuff on your mind right now. I get that. You probably need to think about what I've just told you.

"I'm sorry for hurting you. In any and every way."

The bed creaked as Lucy stood up, and she hesitated before leaving. Natsu remained silent, eyes and head cast down. When she turned a little to look at him, she couldn't see his face, and she could only imagine the expression he wore at that moment. Anger. Pity. Sorrow. Incomprehension. Her hand trembled as she slipped it onto his shoulder.

"I love you," she said. "Just…I love you."

She left.

She was already outside, hurrying away with her heart inside her mouth, when Natsu's arms slipped around her, and suddenly she was being turned around and crushed into his body, her head buried in the crook of his neck and his heat surrounding her being completely.

"Fuck… Lucy… I love you, too… I love you… I love you… That's why I protect you…why we all do… You shouldn't ever feel weak…ever… Lucy."

He pulled back, and looked at her; and his eyes were kind; and he was smiling at her.

"You're alive. You're here. You're stronger than you think."

* * *

_A/N: Oh my god… yes… I know what you're thinking… An update… xD I don't know how long it has been since I last updated. Last I remember I was going off on Christmas holidays in Ireland, and I'd just posted chapter 7 with the promise to post the rest when I came back, in the new year._

_SUMIMASEN! ;_; Lots of things happen, notably the fact that my parents took my computer from me so I could focus on exams and revision, which basically meant that I couldn't write or post anything anymore. :/ I'm on a two-week break right now, which means I may just be able to write and post one or two chapters before classes and exams rush in again in May…maybe. ._

_Anyway, enjoy this chapter for now, and please, **REVIEW**! Even if just to tell me that you hate me for making you wait so long. xD_

_This chapter was betaed, as always, by __**DarkVampireFae**__._

_~Tenshi_


	9. Chapter 9: Falling Away With You

CHAPTER 9: Falling Away With You

* * *

Natsu and Lucy went back to the guild together that day. Lucy wanted to speak to the guild master, and Natsu volunteered to come with her. The two friends were reunited, and they both had to admit that they felt much better that way.

Lucy had not been to the guild in two weeks, and as a result Natsu had also avoided it when he realized that Lucy was missing. Though he'd never tell her that, he'd gone out to his best friend's apartment more than once in the last fifteen days to look for her. It reassured him when, on some days, he found her sitting at her desk working on her novel, or sleeping. But when he'd listened more carefully one day, on one of those days when she was lying in bed with her eyes half closed, he'd realized that she _wasn't_ sleeping, no matter how much it looked like she was. She was just laying there, breathing in and out. But not sleeping. In fact, no matter what time of the day or night Natsu went to visit her, Lucy never seemed to sleep. She was always awake, or dozing in and out in a near painful attempt to catch some glimpses of sleep.

It hurt Natsu to see her like that, so when she'd walked out of her home that day and had seemed to be heading for the guild, Natsu, who'd been atop her roof and breathing in the city's sent while keeping an eye on her, decided to follow her. She'd gone straight for the training grounds. Mira, who had been taking out the bins just that moment, threw Lucy a worried glance before discreetly tailing her, and that was enough to make Natsu wonder. He followed them both quietly, never making himself known.

On the grounds, Lucy had begun by calling out several spirits; Plue, Virgo, Aries, Horologium, Taurus. And Natsu had been surprised, because he'd rarely seen Lucy call out so many spirits in a row and not seem even the slightest bit tired, and here she didn't even look winded.

He'd kept watching, and everything had been fine. Mira was also surveying the girl from the other side of the grounds, and had appeared to be walking away, satisfied, when Lucy had attempted to call Loki – and a monstrous beam of pure energy had erupted from the key of the Lion instead.

Lucy had screamed. Natsu had rushed forward, and so had Mira, but not quickly enough, and Natsu had beaten her to it. Not enough of an idiot to put himself in the light's path, of which he had felt the power before he'd even moved from his hiding place, he'd stepped behind Lucy, intending to wrap his arms around her and calm her down bodily. Though he didn't really understand what was happening with her, he needed to do something.

But he'd only gotten as far as his hands on her waist. As soon as his fingers had touched the bare skin under her short t-shirt, he had seen the burn. No pain, not at first – it all happened so quickly. He saw his fingers begin to redden, and wither, and fume. Him, who had never been burnt, who wielded fire, and lived fire, and ate fire, saw the burn on his fingers spread to his knuckles and finally to his entire hands, horrified, terrified, petrified.

Lucy and Natsu fell to their knees at the same time. Lucy's magic died out, and Natsu felt the pain just as she began sobbing quietly in front of him, and Mira finally reached them both.

Then Gajeel had arrived, and Natsu had known with a single glance towards him that the Iron Dragon Slayer had known about Lucy, just like he'd known Mira had when she'd followed Lucy out to the grounds.

But either way, none of that mattered now. Lucy had explained, and somehow, he understood. He understood more than she probably believed, because what seemed to be her lot now had once been his.

Years ago, when he'd been a child, when he'd been waiting for Happy to hatch, when he'd lost Lisanna – and never expected to get her back –, when he'd been looking for Igneel – when he'd been not so much a child anymore as a teenager. Even when he'd met her – when he'd met Lucy – he'd still been relying on Fairy Tail to survive. Or at least he'd thought it was. But now he was starting to see things from Lucy's point of view – from everyone else's point of view. And he was starting to understand that he wasn't as much of a child as he'd long believed himself.

How many times now had they saved him? And how many more times had that been seen as _him_ saving _them_?

They didn't see things from the same point of view. The way he saw it, all these years, Fairy Tail had been the one giving him the power to fight. Without Fairy Tail, he'd have been long dead, probably thrown into a ditch somewhere on a twisty mountain road along his search for Igneel.

When he'd beaten the Legion on Tenroujima; it had been Laxus and Lucy and Erza and Gray, not him.

When he'd vanquished the King's mechanical dragon in Edolas, it had been Gajeel, not him.

And still Gajeel, in the Grand Magic Games, against the Twin Dragon Slayers.

And every single other time, _every single fucking time_ when he'd beaten some great evil that had been threatening the guild, it had never really been _him_. He'd never have done a single one of those things if the guild hadn't been there. They gave him power; they gave him strength; they gave him a family; they gave him _life_. He fought for only one reason: because he knew that if he didn't, all those people would die. Fate had been cruel enough to make him the vessel to some great power, an ability that allowed him to pitch together the energies of a thousand different people. But he fed on those energies, just as he fed on fire. They kept him alive, in more ways than one, in as many ways as infinity warranted. When he fought, he did it _for_ them, _because_ of them, and _thanks_ to them. Fighting with them was both a duty and a pleasure.

The weight of his power should have been a crushing one, but they made it lighter, by fuelling it and him and then giving him a reason to love. To live.

For them.

But if anything, he had never been 'stronger' than them, because _they_ were what had _made_ him strong in the first place.

And Natsu now realized that that was not how it had ever been seen. Lucy felt weak because of him. He saw it now. Like a torch in the dark, her blonde hair swaying back and forth in front of him on the path to the guild drew him back to reality. He listened, transfixed, as her keys jingled against her waist with every step. Didn't this woman know that, of all the energies he'd ever touched and felt, _hers_ was the brightest? It _had_ been, even before; bright and beautiful and warm, brighter even than Erza's, and stronger; and now she was a maelstrom of colour and light and purity and power, and when he squinted at her now, when he really looked for her aura, he found it hard to keep looking. It was just like looking at the sun; dazzling, and it left an imprint of white light against his retina. How he hadn't noticed the change in her power before now, Natsu would never know.

And one day, Natsu promised himself that he would be able to explain all that to her. One day.

The guild came into sight in front of them, its high pointed towers waving at them from afar. Natsu jogged a few short strides to catch up on Lucy, and squeezed her hand just once when he came level with her.

"Ready?" he said to her with a smile, looking at her until she turned sparkling eyes on him and smiled right back at him.

"Ready," she said back, and minutes later they strode confidently into the guild.

Since Lucy hadn't been out of her home in two weeks, and not everyone knew where she lived, or wanted to bother her, there were a lot of happy faces to greet them when she appeared. Erza came to ask how she was, and surprised her with her hug, before giving Natsu a withering glare, sure that he had been the cause for her absence, since he'd also been more or less absent for the last fortnight. Gray waved and smiled at them both from the bar, comforting lounging back on a bar stool and half on top of the bar itself – at least before Mira shooed him off it. She smiled and waved at them both too, her eyes slightly worried as she look at them. Levy hugged Lucy and told her she had missed her, and the look in her eyes told Lucy that she had more to say to her, so she said she'd be back, but she had to see Makarov before-hand. That perked up a few curious ears and stares, particularly from Laxus and his bodyguards, Freed, Bickslow and Eva. Gajeel was nowhere to be seen.

They went up the stairs after an exchanged glance, and knocked on the door to Makarov's office, and stepped right in. The old man, who'd been snoring with his head on the desk, littered with papers, woke up with a start, and glared at them and attempted to look as if he hadn't been sleeping at all as he picked up the papers he'd been sleeping on and stacked them up in piles of sheets along the edges of his desk.

"The point of knocking is to wait until you're told t' come in, is it not? Now, now, children. What is it? Can't a man work in peace these days?"

"Guild Master," Lucy said as she took a few steps into the room and Natsu closed the door behind them both. Makarov stood up straight at that, seeing the gravity of their faces. "There's something we need to talk about. An issue I've been avoiding for a while now."


	10. Chapter 10: Con-Science

CHAPTER 10

Con-Science:

The Devils in my Path

* * *

"And tell me again, child… When did this start?"

Makarov sat atop his desk, legs crossed, hands folded over his higher knee and chin set on it. His eyes were thoughtful as he looked out the window, slowly processing what the blonde woman in front of him had been telling him for the better part of an hour.

"Three months ago, guild master," Lucy repeated respectfully.

Natsu, sitting to Lucy's right and slightly behind her, had a worried look on him. Having no technical knowledge of the Spirit World and the way its magic worked, he could only hope that it wouldn't hurt his best friend irremediably, and he awaited the old man's potential explanation eagerly. Supposing he even _had_ one in the first place.

The Fairy Tail Guild Master hummed and nodded to himself silently, munching on the details he'd been given. As his thoughts trailed off, he suddenly remembered something that had happened two weeks before.

"Natsu," he said, turning to the subject of his interest. "Show me your hands."

The pink-haired boy's eyes darkened suddenly, understanding what the old master had thought of, but stuck his hands out, palm up, nonetheless.

The old man hopped down from his desk and approached the extended hands, scratching his chin as he examined them. "Natsu… Had you ever been burnt before that day?" he asked quietly.

Lucy's gaze suddenly snapped up from her best friend's hands to his face, her eyes widening almost painfully. She gasped in shock, her back going rigid and her hands flying up to her mouth. She hadn't thought of it since, but it was true that Natsu was a _Fire_ Dragon Slayer; for Mavis' sake, he _fought_ with fire in his hands, he _ate_ fire when he needed a strength boost, and he probably could have bathed in fire had he been dared to. So how could he have gotten _burnt_?

"Natsu…"

"Not since I was four," Natsu cut in bitterly, turning his head away from both of them. "Not since I accepted the power of the Dragon within me."

There was silence in the room for several seconds, Lucy holding her breath at the revelation and Makarov pondering it silently.

Then the blonde girl closed her eyes, unable to look at her best friend any longer. She could only imagine how terrible the pain she had inflicted him must have been. She hadn't noticed it earlier, but when Natsu had upturned his palms for Makarov to see, she had realized suddenly that the burns were still there. It had been two weeks, and yet his hands were still red, peeling, and even raw in some places. She couldn't bear it.

"Luce," Natsu called, his voice softening when he turned to see her downcast face. He suddenly regretted the bitter tone of his voice, realizing that she had probably taken it for herself. He sighed, cocking his head to the side as he tried to catch her eyes. "I'm not mad at you," he said to her, and she looked up slowly. "Really. It's just… You know I don't like talking about my Dad and stuff like that…"

The girl nodded understandingly and gave him a small but heart-warming smile.

"Fire," Makarov breathed, "doesn't hurt fire."

Not understanding, Lucy and Natsu both looked up at him, eyes questioning. The old man gave them back their look, eyes hard.

"Lucy," he said to the blonde girl, "it isn't fire you wield."

"Well if it ain't it looks and feels exactly like it," Natsu interjected.

"Let me explain, Natsu. I believe I may know what is happening to our dear Lucy. And to you."

The old man jumped down from his desk, and began pacing in front of it, from one end to the other, hands folded behind his back as the two youngsters watched him, waiting.

"Celestial Mages," he began, "wield a kind of magic that is absolutely unique to them. It resembles no other sort of magic known in this universe. Requip magic, Ice-make Magic, Totem Magic – all of those are Earthly Magics. In the past, Dragons were the beings that came the closest to using the type of magic that Celestial Mages do – in terms of power at least. Nowadays, since the last Dragons' disappearance, their Children, the Dragon Slayers, are the nearest in power. Yourself, Natsu; Gajeel; Wendy; Cobra… They seem to be getting rarer and rarer.

"As for the nature of Celestial Mage's Magic… That's just the thing, actually. Celestial Mages do not use _magic_ – they wield _energy_. Pure, unfiltered energy. And _that_ is what makes them so powerful, and at the same time what makes it so hard for them to learn to use their powers.

"What I'm trying to say, is that what burnt you, Natsu, was not fire, but pure energy. Lucy's energy. A Celestial Mage's energy, in a quantity and power never seen before."

There was silence as he finished, Lucy staring wide eyed at the ground while Natsu just kept staring at the old man.

"Not…not…fire…?"

"No, Natsu. Not fire. Energy. From the Spirit World."

"Master… They've been protecting me. My Spirits… Ever since it started… They've been trying to keep it from me, to shield me from it – but recently…"

"It's gotten stronger. I know, child. I know. I believe that… I believe that there has been a rip – a tear of sorts – in the Make of the Spirit World."

"What do you mean?"

The Guild Master hummed to himself for a few seconds, looking for a way to explain what he was beginning to understand.

"Imagine… Imagine a separation between two worlds. One above the other, the bottom one made of earthly matter, and the upper one of spiritual, intangible matter. The separation between the two worlds takes the form of a thin sheet, one that can stretch, pull and push, and that allows for energy from one world to another to traverse, and most importantly to _return_. Think of it as an elastic band that every living and breathing being is strapped onto, and that snaps back to its world of origin in all eventuality. No matter what happens to the being that has crossed into the other world, the elastic chord will _always_ snap back into place, and return the creature to its world of origin.

"Without that sheet, that separation, both worlds would be absolute chaos. Any being that crossed over would have no elastic chord to hang on to. Only the being's own power could return it to its place. I believe that, as we speak, this sheet, this separation, has suffered a rip in its fabric. And I believe that this is the reason for your progressive increase in magic, Lucy."

The silence stretched on again, longer and longer, until Makarov felt the need to clear his throat to clear it.

"Children – are you both feeling all right?"

Lucy opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Natsu answered for her.

"I suppose… It's just a lot to take in, I think."

Makarov nodded, understanding. "That's completely normal. Take your time."

All truth be told, Lucy wasn't really surprised by the Guild Master's words. She had felt the "tear" long before her powers had gotten out of control. At first it had felt…good. She'd felt more powerful. She'd felt in control. When it had begun to be too much, her fear had caught on to her Spirits, and Leo had done some research to try and find an explanation for the onslaught of energy that had flooded the Celestial World. He had found it, or at least part of it, and had done his best to convey it back to Lucy, even though she was not from their World and could not possibly understand what exactly this rip implied.

But, nonetheless, Makarov's explanation was clearer that Leo's, and cleared up several things in her mind.

However, there was still something that she had been wanting to know for the last few weeks, a question that was still left unanswered, and that she desperately needed an answer to.

"Master," Lucy cut in, her back straightening and her eyes lifting to meet the old man's. "There's another question I'd like to ask. And I need to ask to answer honestly. I'm not a little girl anymore, and I think I'm allowed to know the truth. The entire truth. No matter how…tragic that truth might be."

"Of course," Makarov assured, not sure where this was going. "I promise you I will answer truthfully. I will not hide anything from you."

Lucy nodded, both for herself and for her two friends, then swallowed, saliva thick with anguish in her throat. She breathed in an out, twice, then organized the thoughts in her head.

"Guild Master, what I'd like to now is… What will happen when I cannot control the energy anymore?"

There was silence again as her words filled the room.

"I know it's going to happen. In fact, it's already started happening. And there's going to come a day when it becomes entirely too much for my body. I don't want it to happen…but I _know_ it will. I don't want Natsu, or Gajeel, or Mira, or anyone else to be hurt because of me again."

"Of course," the Master said, nodding fervently. "Perhaps… Perhaps Porlyusica may be able to help you; after all, she does specialize in healing wounds caused by magic, though to what extent her talent goes will have to be proven with this cause. You should go to her, Lucy, and you too, Natsu. Even if she turns out unable to help Lucy, she should be able to heal _your_ wounds, Natsu."

"Great idea!" Natsu shouted, jumping to a standing position, glad to finally have the glimpse of a solution. "Lucy! I'll find Happy; meet me outside the Guild with Erza and Gray." He winked at her, flashing teeth, and shouted at the top of his lungs – "Team Natsu is back!" – before running out of sight, out of the Guild Master's office.

Lucy stood up shakily. She'd barely had the time to understand what Makarov was saying before Natsu had sprung up and started shouting. She shook her head from the blizzard that had surrounded it, dusting off the folds of her skirt off nervously.

"Guild Master…" she began, but she could not find the words.

"Go, my child. Go." Makarov winked at her, Natsu's sudden burst of good humor obviously having contaminated him." Your friends are waiting for you, I believe. You can thank me later."


End file.
